Alberta negotiating contract with highest-paid teachers among Canadian provinces

Richard Cuthbertson, Calgary Herald09.13.2012

Alberta Minister of Education Jeff Johnson, shown with a Grade 8 class in Calgary at the opening of a new school in August, says the province wants “excellent teachers, but there’s only so much money to go around.”

As the provincial government settles into negotiations for a new contract with its 36,000 teachers, a study finds those instructing in Alberta classrooms are paid 20 per cent more than their typical counterparts elsewhere in the country.

The numbers come from a large report by Statistics Canada and the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, which covers education levels and spending across the country.

The gap between Alberta and the rest of the country is gaining attention, and with the province’s poor financial outlook the days of four or five per cent annual wage increases look to be over.

Education Minister Jeff Johnson said salary differences are widening over neighbours such as British Columbia, and noted teachers in that province recently accepted a zero wage increase.

“We have to pay very close attention because we want excellent teachers, but there’s only so much money to go around,” Johnson said.

“Any money that we put into raises is money that we can’t put into class sizes or can’t put into other initiatives in the system.”

The head of the Alberta Teachers Association local that represents Calgary public teachers defends the greater pay.

Students in the province perform at the top in international testing, said Frank Bruseker, and salaries are higher in Alberta compared to the rest of the country in many other sectors.

Even so, union officials have said workload issues, and not salaries, are the chief concern during bargaining for a new collective agreement.

In 2009-2010, the average starting salary for an Alberta teacher with “minimum training” was $53,838, and $85,597 after 15 years, according to the study.

Only the Yukon and the Northwest Territories paid more. Both British Columbia ($41,963 starting salary) and Ontario ($42,030 starting salary) paid substantially less, according to the report.

The Canadian average starting salary was $44,861, and just under $72,000 after 15 years.

The report comes less than two weeks after Finance minister Doug Horner painted a gloomy picture of the province’s fiscal situation.

Public sector unions should not expect salary increases beyond what have been already been budgeted, he said, which works out to about one per cent for teachers.

Union leaders have acknowledged the province’s money problems, and say workload issues, and not pay, is their central concern in bargaining since the latest collective agreement expired at the end of August.

One leader even suggests a wage freeze isn’t out of the question if the province acquiesces on other grievances.

The Alberta Teachers Association, the province and the Alberta School Boards Associated hope to hammer out a “framework” agreement by the end of October.

That would deal with overarching issues such as wages and workload, but leave local disputes to local unions and their school boards.

Teachers were the beneficiary of a five-year agreement signed by the Stelmach government back in 2007 that tied their wages to changes in the Alberta average weekly earnings index.

That led to some significant increases, which since 2006/2007 has boosted teacher pay by a total of nearly 23 per cent.

The Alberta Teachers Association local that represents Calgary public school teachers said wages have simply kept pace with average pay increases across the province. The average hourly wage of $25.17 for workers in the province is more than $3 greater than the rest of Canada, said Bruseker, the president of local 38.

Still, salary expectations appear different this time around, and Bruseker said there may even be an appetite for a wage freeze if the province agrees to address class-size and workload problems.

“Would teachers accept a wage freeze?” he said. “Perhaps, if there was some movement on the other side of the equation.”

The sharp increases over recent years have some criticizing the government for its fiscal management.

Wildrose education critic Bruce McAllister said teachers should be paid more, but that 20 per cent sounds like “an awful lot” and signals a provincial government that has spent with “reckless abandon.”

“It just speaks to the financial mismanagement that we’ve seen in the province over the last 10 or 20 years,” he said.

While Alberta spends more per student on its education system than any other province, it also spends a smaller portion of its gross domestic product than any other province but one.

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Alberta negotiating contract with highest-paid teachers among Canadian provinces

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